9.3 Increasing Engagement and Access to Information

Lead Agencies must collect and disseminate information about the full range of child care services to promote parental choice to parents of children eligible for CCDF, the general public, and child care providers. 9.3.1 Information about CCDF availability and eligibility Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with eligible parents, the general public, and child care providers about the availability of child care services provided through CCDF and other programs for which the family may be eligible. The description should include, at a minimum, what is provided (e.g., written materials, the website, and direct communications) and what approaches are used to tailor information to parents, the general public, and child care providers. NC DCDEE maintains a website that includes information about eligibility for child care subsidies for families. The website also includes Local Purchasing Agency contact information https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Parents/County-Resource-Lookup. Information about financial assistance can be found on the Division’s website under Services/Financial Assistance, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Services/FinancialAssistance. Information about NC Pre-K, NC's Prekindergarten Program, is on DCDEE's website at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Home/DCDEE-Sections/North-Carolina-Pre-Kindergarten-NC-Pre-K . Information about Smart Start is available at http://www.smartstart.org or through this link on the DCDEE website: https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Provider-Resources. Information includes services offered, eligibility and contact information for NC Pre-K, and contact information for local Smart Start partnerships. DCDEE also communicates by telephone and in person to individuals across the state information about financial assistance through its consulting staff. Consultants tailor the information to the level of the audience. They, in plain language, share all types of information, including information about the Subsidized Child Care Assistance Program. Child Care Resource and Referral agencies provide information to families about services that are available which includes WIC, SNAP, Energy Assistance, Child Care Subsidy and other programs based on family need. These services among other resources are marketed in a consumer education brochure titled, ￿Resources for families with young children in North Carolina￿. Another consumer education brochure is available titled, ￿Child Care in North Carolina￿, which includes types of child care available, licensing/star-rated license information, how to choose quality child care/quality indicators, next steps (call or visit the program), reporting concerns & maltreatment, and child care subsidy (SCC, Pre-K/Head Start Child Care Partnerships). These brochures are distributed through DCDEE, CCR&R offices, Smart Start offices, DSS offices and elsewhere as applicable. To the extent possible, the brochures are written at an 8th grade reading level. In addition, they are located on the DCDEE website: https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Parent/Additional-Resources 9.3.2 Information about child care and other services available for parents Does the Lead Agency certify that it provides information described in 9.3.1 for the following required programs? • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. • Head Start and Early Head Start programs. • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). • Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) program. • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). • Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). • Programs carried out under IDEA Part B, Section 619 and Part C. [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.3 Consumer statement for parents receiving CCDF services Lead Agencies must provide parents receiving CCDF services with a consumer statement in hard copy or electronically that contains general information about the CCDF program and specific information about the child care provider they select. Please certify if the Lead Agency provides parents receiving CCDF services a consumer statement that contains the following 8 requirements: 1. Health and safety requirements met by the provider 2. Licensing or regulatory requirements met by the provider 3. Date the provider was last inspected 4. Any history of violations of these requirements 5. Any voluntary quality standards met by the provider 6. How CCDF subsidies are designed to promote equal access 7. How to submit a complaint through the hotline 8. How to contact a local resource and referral agency or other community-based organization to receive assistance in finding and enrolling in quality child care Does the Lead Agency provide to families, either in hard copy or electronically, a consumer statement that contains the required information about the provider they have selected, including the eight required elements above? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.4 Informing families about best practices on child development Describe how the Lead Agency makes information available to parents, providers, and the general public on research and best practices concerning children’s development, including physical health and development, and information about successful parent and family engagement. At a minimum, the description should include what information is provided; how the information is provided; any distinct activities for sharing this information with parents, providers, the general public; and any partners in providing this information. For families to access information in formats that meet their individual needs, the state provides information using a variety of delivery methods. The state coordinates with other state agencies such as the Division of Child and Family Well-Being, and the Division of Public Health, Department of Public Instruction, and statewide early childhood systems such as Child Care Resource and Referral, Smart Start, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to disseminate research and best practice knowledge to families through the various services offered by each agency (e.g., local family resource centers, community lending libraries, child care health consultation). The state collaborates with multiple groups so that messages and information are aligned with various state initiatives. Quarterly, the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center, a project of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, publishes e-news on health and safety topics related to child care. An archive of these research and evidenced-based e-newsletter articles can be found at the following link: https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/nc-child-care-health-and-safety-e- news/.https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/nc-child-care-health-and-safety-e-news/. Notification of these e-news publications is through an email listserv that reaches approximately 90% of all licensed child care programs as well as other professionals in the early childhood system. The articles are intentionally written at about the 8th grade level, so that most parents, providers and those in the general public can benefit. They are also translated into Spanish. Many programs print these articles for parents in the program. The Division of Child Development and Early Education also publishes an e-newsletter, Raising North Carolina, which disseminates evidenced-based information about early childhood issues, including health and safety, at the times when these issues are likely to occur. These are also in plain language so that persons with diverse ability levels can benefit and are linked for program use with parents. The public can can be registered for it under the Contact tab of the DCDEE website. NC CCR&R Council sends a newsletter to the CCR&R system and early childhood system partners. This newsletter contains many research and evidenced-based articles which can be shared not only with providers, but also with parents and the general community. It covers a broad range of topics related to early childhood education, including child development, physical health and development (healthy eating and physical activity) and family engagement. Downloadable resources are included and articles are linked, so links can be sent to parents or others if a particular topic meets a need. Some partners have websites, toolkits, technical assistance and or advisory activities related to healthy eating and physical activity which provides evidenced and or research-based information to providers, parents and the general public. These include NC State University, Natural Learning Initiative, https://naturalearning.org/greendesk/ at Eat Smart Move More, https://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/Data/Data.html, including information about the Integrating Healthy Opportunities for Play and Eating (I_HOPE) Advisory Committee https://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/I-HOPE/portal/, Be Active Kids, http://www.beactivekids.org/beactive-at-school-childcare, N.C. Farm to Child Care Initiative, https://cefs.ncsu.edu/food-system-initiatives/nc-farm-to-early-care-and-education/ , Go NAP SAAC, https://gonapsacc.org/, and Shape NC, http://www.smartstart.org/shape-nc-home/ . These programs have resources for families among other family engagement components. DCDEE, in collaboration with program partners, also supports a statewide network of Child Care Health Consultants (CCHC). CCHCs provide health and safety information through training and technical assistance with providers to address physical health and development, healthy eating and physical activity, as well as all of the CCHC national competencies. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/publication/child-care-health-consultant-competencies Family engagement is promoted in a publication titled, ￿North Carolina Early Childhood Family Engagement and Leadership Framework￿. It is on the Partnership for Children website. To assist parents in being able to identify quality child care, PBS NC has developed a virtual 360- tour of a high-quality/5-star child care center. The virtual tour will be web-based and interactive with clickable touchpoints describing for parents the quality practice which occurs in the selected area. Currently, there are 28 touchpoints planned for the virtual tour, with assets and resources associated with each. Assets and resources utilized will be from state and national early childhood system partners and experts including NAEYC, ZERO To Three, NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and many more. In addition, PBS NC is hosting and recording four webinars by August 31, 2024 including two for early childcare professionals (available in English and Spanish) and two for families (also in English and Spanish). Each webinar will provide an overview of the elements, resources, and activities required for high- quality early child education as a whole and for child care providers including centers and family child care homes. The webinars will also address topics such as an introduction to North Carolina’s early childhood system, the network of funding, partners and governance structures that administer it, and potentially will include information about upcoming enhancements to North Carolina’s QRIS. 9.3.5 Unlimited parental access to their children Does the Lead Agency have procedures to ensure that parents have unlimited access to their children whenever their children are in the care of a provider who receives CCDF funds: [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.6 Informing families about best practices in social and emotional health Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with families, providers, and the general public regarding the social-emotional and behavioral and mental health of young children, including positive behavioral intervention and support models based on research and best practices for those from birth to school age: Families/parents receive a variety of information from multiple sources regarding children's social and behavioral needs. Written materials may be disseminated via a child's care provider, as given to them by a child care health consultant, healthy social emotional behaviors specialist, infant-toddler specialist, infant-toddler mental health specialist, family medical provider, public school itinerant staff, or local resource such as a Smart Start Partnership or a CCR&R. Families may also receive ongoing evidenced-based training and education through CCR&R or locally implemented, Smart Start funded programs such as Incredible Years. The state also provides information to families/parents directly through participation in intensive home visitation activities, such as, Head Start/Early Head Start, Parents as Teachers, Nurse Family Partnership, or Triple P (Positive Parenting Program). The NC Department of Public Health under the Early Intervention Branch, works with families whose children, ages birth to age 3 years, have an identified developmental delay or an established condition which has a high likelihood of leading to a developmental delay. All families referred to the program receive information about social/emotional development of children, as well as the services and programs available for children who have identified social/emotional needs and/or delays. Families receive verbal guidance and written materials with this information. The individuals providing the information work with the families on a regular basis, so can tailor the information to fit the family’s education level and experience. Providers receive information about social-emotional issues through their local Child Care Resource and Referral, Smart Start and Child Care Consultants. The Healthy Social Behaviors (HSB) Project through Child Care Resource and Referral was designed to assist teachers and technical assistance specialists in addressing challenging behaviors and in creating a proactive environment to ensure that children have developed the social emotional competencies needed prior to entering school in order to succeed. A list of the training topics provided by the Healthy Social Behavior Specialists through CCR&R are at the following web link: http://childcarerrnc.org/s.php?subpage=HealthySocialBehaviors. The Birth-3 Quality Initiative (B3QI) offers social emotional technical assistance to infant toddler teachers requesting on-site support to improve their practices to promote social emotional competence in infants and toddlers. The IT Project uses the CSEFEL Pyramid Model. A list of training topics provided by the Infant Toddler Project can be found here: https://www.childcarerrnc.org/special-projects/b3qi/. Child Care Health Consultants also provide technical assistance to licensed programs on social emotional issues. They participate in a Child Care Health Consultant training course, CCHC Annual Conference, quarterly regional meetings, webinars hosted by the NC Resource Center, and shared resources ￿ all that frequently address social emotional issues for young children. They have been trained on the Pyramid model and many have early childhood education credits. Parents, providers and the community receive social emotional information through the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center e-news. They intentionally write the articles at an 8th grade level so that a variety of education levels can benefit. Samples of these e-news articles and former bulletins are at the following site: E-News https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/ncchild-care-health-and-safety-e-news/ Child Care Licensing Consultants, by ensuring providers meet the Child Care Rules related to positive interactions and discipline, and reviewing scores on Environmental Rating Scales also have opportunities to provide information and technical assistance on social emotional issues to providers. Child Care Rules related to behavior management and interactions are in Section .1800 Staff/Child Interactions and Behavior Management https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Services/Child- Care-Rules-Law-and-Public-Information. Rules related to supervision, prohibited discipline and a discipline policy are also included in that Section. The Environmental Rating Scales also include topics related to interactions, supervision and discipline as well as interactions among children. With prior relationships established with providers, the Consultants are able to tailor the information to the person’s education and experience level. Child Care Resource and Referral regions have technical assistance providers who can offer trainings and technical assistance on school-age care. Tool kits available for their use include School-Age Behavior Toolkit (includes Intervention strategies, parent resources, understanding behaviors, prevention strategies, teacher supports); School-Age Toolkit: Bullying; Embracing ADHD Toolkit; and School-Age Conflict Management Toolkit. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® Credentialing System: Since 2021, DCDEE has partnered with the NC Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Association (NCIMHA) to establish North Carolina’s first-ever Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Endorsement® credentialing system. Building upon the IECMH Endorsement® offerings, NCIMHA has also launched a series of professional development to build early childhood workforce capacity to lead and support local infant and early childhood mental health initiatives including the Reflective Supervision Learning Collaborative, virtual webinars, and the Annual Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Conference to name a few. NCIMHA is also working closely with colleges, universities, and evidence-based programs that train early childhood professionals, to align their existing coursework with the IECHM Endorsement® competencies to ensure that newly trained early childhood professionals have foundational knowledge in social- emotional health and well-being. PBS NC Video Short ￿ Social Emotional Learning: DCDEE partnered with PBS NC to produce and air a series of 30-60 second video shorts. Featuring diverse families and providers, these video shorts were designed to communicate important messages and resources to families. Five video shorts were produced including one on Social-Emotional Learning. The video shorts are being disseminated in English and in Spanish on air through PBS NC TV, the PBS NC Rootle Readiness website and on the PBS NC Rootle Readiness YouTube Channel reaching PBS NC’s audience of over eight million viewers! The video short ￿Social-Emotional Learning￿ and many more are accessible on PBS NC Rootle Readiness YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW- pO4zaZA1C6pe3-B9TupYb3P9t_fYny. DCDEE will continue to partner with PBS NC and early childhood system partners to disseminate this and related videos to promote and reinforce messaging to support early childhood social-emotional learning and development. 9.3.7 Policies on the prevention of the suspension and expulsion of children a. The Lead Agency must have policies to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children from birth to age 5 in child care and other early childhood programs receiving CCDF funds. Describe those policies and how those policies are shared with families, providers, and the general public: Since 2005, evidence-based programmatic mental health services have been available to licensed child care centers through the Promoting Healthy Social Behaviors in Child Care Centers (HSB) and the Infant Toddler Quality Enhancement Project, initiatives of the CCR&R Council. These services are based on the Pyramid Model developed by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. The HSB initiative, managed by Child Care Resources Inc., one of the three NC CCR&R Council Management Agencies, employs a Statewide Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager, to provide program management; an Education Specialist, who develops and disseminates CEU-level professional development events across the state; four pyramid model coaches and 32 regional behavior specialists who provide training (both contact hour and CEU) and intensive on-site and virtual technical assistance to child care programs. Link to early childhood suspension and expulsion policy information https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Provider-Resources/Behavior-Management. Link to DCDEE Policy Statement https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Portals/0/documents/pdf/D/DCDEE_Suspension_and_Exp ulsion_Policy.pdf?ver=2017-07-21-091108-103. This introductory training is available statewide through the behavior specialists or in an asynchronous format through the Division’s online learning platform. A toolkit training to assist administrators to better address the issue of suspension and expulsion within their own facility is available through the HSB education specialist. Training, consultation, and toolkits with resources are provided to directors/teachers in need of assistance regarding expulsion/suspension practices and policies, social-emotional competencies, pro-social classroom practices, and individualized social-emotional assessment and crafting of behavior plans for individualized intervention. Additionally, referrals to supplemental mental health services are provided as necessary. HSB maintains numerous social media accounts that are utilized through technical assistance and training. b. Describe what policies, if any, the Lead Agency has to prevent the suspension and expulsion of school-age children from child or youth care settings receiving CCDF funds: Separate suspension and expulsion policies have not been developed for school-age children. However, the Policy Statement identified for birth to five can apply to a school- age setting as well. Guidance for prevention of suspension and expulsion for early childhood which also could be applied to school-age care arrangements includes: a program focus on fostering social-emotional development, appropriately responding to challenging behaviors by incorporating preventive and positive guidance as well as the Pyramid Model to addressing challenging behaviors, communicating with families, adoption of policies and procedures to limit suspension and expulsion of school-age children, documenting efforts to prevent and reduce problem behaviors and consulting with mental health specialists.